Hurried Haikus, Idle Inanity, and other Scattered Stuff

Written on 3:05 PM by Jack B.

1. Total Number of Books I’ve Owned: God knows, cause I sure don't. It must be in the high hundreds and counting comic books defintely over a 1,000. My bookcases cover all the walls and it still overflows into stacked cardboard boxes of paperbacks that are in the closet.

2. Last Book I Bought: No Enemy by Ford Madox Ford ~ If you look to the right side of the blog, among my "Idle Recommendations", you will see Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End. Well, I'm still reading it (the thing is 800 pages!) but I can quickly tell if I like an author or not so I purchased Ford's No Enemy to read later. The Anglo-German Ford Madox Ford is one of the most influential but least read authors of the early 20th Century (and a Catholic convert too!).

3. Last Book I read: Once Upon a Time: A Treasury of Modern Fairy Tales edited by Lester Del Rey and Risa Kessler ~ An anthology collection of fairy tales by contemporary writers like Issac Asminov, Terry Pratchett and Anne McCaffrey. Some of the stories are funny, some touching, some thought-provoking - and the art in the book is very good too. It's out-of-print and I got it from the library and am now looking to buy a copy of my own.

4. 5 Books That Mean Alot to Me:

a) Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie ~ The best piece of historical biography I've ever read. Now over 30 years old but it still holds up. Be forwarned that if you read this you might become Romanov obsessed (like me - just look at all those Romanov links I have to the right). The story of the last Imperial Family of Russia is the stuff of classic tragedy but yet all too real. You really feel like you know Nicholas II, his beloved wife Alexandra and their innocent five children who were doomed to die in one of most horrific and cold-blooded murders of what would become a bloody century - the story of average people caught in the wrong time and place in history.b) The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien ~ The movies were good but the book is better. And yes it should be read as ONE massive epic book and not three. For me, the most vivid and well-imagined fantasy world ever devised, one could study Middle-Earth for a lifetime and still not unlock all Tolkien's secrets. From Helm's Deep to the Battle of Pellanor Fields, Eowyn's stand against the Witch King, Gimli's love for Galadriel, Saruman's duplicity, Denethor's madness, Boromir's redemption, Faramir's chivalry, Aragorn's nobility, the Elvish language, Gandalf's death and resurrection, the courage of Samwise, the burden of Frodo, the bravery of the Hobbits and fall of Smeagol and destruction of Sauron. Classic good vs. evil writ large. I got lost for days in the appendix alone.c) The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of Therese of Lisieux ~ It's said that after finishing the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, (St.)Edith Stein said to herself "this is the truth". I got that same feeling after reading Therese for the first time. This sometimes-sugary, sheltered, bourgeoise French girl who died in a convent unknown at 24 is so far beyond me it is incomprehensible. Whenever I'm in my own "dark night of the soul" and have doubts, Therese Martin is my guide because I know she's been there too.d) The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens ~ I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone but lets just say I weeped when it was over. I admit it. I'm such a sap.e) Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain ~ My all-time favorite saint's life written by one of my favorite authors. The best fictional bio of Joan (or perhaps any saint for that matter) ever written - and this coming from the usually anti-religious, sometimes anti-Catholic pen of the agnostic Twain.

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